OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/15720/Xfce_4_4_Release_Candidate_1_Released
Exploring the Future of Computingen-usCopyright 2001-2018, David Adamsadam+nospam@osnews.comThu, 22 Feb 2018 08:01:53 GMThttp://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gifOSNews.comhttp://www.osnews.com
Nicehttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158567
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158567The day 4.4 final is released, I'll probably switch away from Openbox for a while Sun, 03 Sep 2006 19:08:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (bogomipz)CommentsThunarhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158568
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158568I must say the interface looks a lot more xfce'esque than the current file manager. It's cleaner, more beautiful and undoubtly more user friendly.Sun, 03 Sep 2006 19:08:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (LB06)CommentsRE: Thunarhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158569
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158569I agree wholeheartedly. Traditionally xfce file managers have sucked, unfortunately. SUCKED! I say!Sun, 03 Sep 2006 19:15:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (twenex)CommentsRE: Thunarhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158572
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158572what I found rather neat about it (trying it on debian etch) is how it manages to associate appropriate icons with various executables, as in /usr/bin/amarok shows an icon of the howling wolf head, etc. not for everything of course, but still pretty nifty.Sun, 03 Sep 2006 19:26:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (macisaac)CommentsRE: Thunarhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158573
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158573To my surprise (well, actually I just wasn't paying attention) both Thunar and xarchiver 0.4.0 are already in the Arch repo. My first reaction is very positive. It's a bit like nautilus, but done well Sun, 03 Sep 2006 19:31:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (LB06)CommentsRE[2]: Thunarhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158576
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158576You mean in AUR, not in the main or extra repositories?

Can you use Thunar with Xfce-4.2.3 or you need to upgrade the whole xfce to the latest 4.4-RC1?Sun, 03 Sep 2006 19:51:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Luis)CommentsWOWhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158578
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158578Last time I tried it I just could not warm up to thunar and did not want to install nautilus just to have a file manager I liked so it went bye-bye. Now thunar looks more like somethign I could live with. I will be trying this ASAP and may just move away from gnome....maybe!

VERY NICE XFCE GUYS!Sun, 03 Sep 2006 19:55:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (deanlinkous)CommentsGreat, but...http://www.osnews.com/thread?158580
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158580I didn't see fixes for some of the more irritating bugs in the beta, such as freezing all windows when using alt+tab to cycle. Hopefully this will be fixed before the final release so I can go back to my usual XFCE worship.Sun, 03 Sep 2006 19:56:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (kernelpanicked)Commentsbleeding edge desktop, very coolhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158583
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158583I would reccomend updating your system to the latest release candidate if you are a XFCE4 user. It is very cool. The installer GUI works well though it took about an hour on my system to compile and install.
Installer GUI: http://www.xfce.org/archive/xfce-4.3.99.1/installers/

I have a screenshot which shows off some of the new capabilites. Notice thunar has a trash icon in the sidebar panel now. Also, I set background windows to fade out using the transparency setting in the XFCE window tweaks section. Note if you have an Nvidia card you should install the Nvidia drivers to get the transparency effects to work. The destop widgets are Adesklets python applications which don't have Gnome dependencies which complement XFCE4 nicely. The linux distro. is Fedora Core 6 Test 2. The sticky notes application is Xpad. The browser is SeaMonkey with the SeaFox GTK theme. The desktop theme is Clearlooks Graphite. The thunar icon on my launcher I hacked together from images on their site you can get it here:

Here's a good reason: it uses about half the memory of Gnome making it faster on older systems. Keep in mind there are many themes you can select if you don't like the default look.Edited 2006-09-03 20:14Sun, 03 Sep 2006 20:12:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (buff)CommentsRE: Nicehttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158598
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158598Been running this beast since beta1 and current SVN is very stable indeed! I enjoy the speed of xfwm4 and the user friendliness of thunar file manager with desktop and trash support. I guess the only thing its missing now is SMB network browsing through Thunar but its in the works I think.

I used to be a die hard gnome fan but ever since i switched to 4.4 SVN of xfce I find gnome annoying - especially its window list / task bar thing how it randomly changes button sizes when title bar changes.

Can't agree with you on that. I think it's quite nice, being so simple but yet very smart and creativly made. Kinda like something between BeOS, Gnome and Amiga, not too many features but you get things done. Fewer features and layers also means less bugs and more efficient code. On the various systems I've tried XFCE has run faster than Fluxbox, and looked quite a lot better with the default themes. Am using it now on my laptop with XGL and Compiz, and both me and many other people think it's esthetic, clean and easy to use.Sun, 03 Sep 2006 21:12:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Ringheims Auto)CommentsRE: Great, but...http://www.osnews.com/thread?158616
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158616It's supposed to be fixed. Do you still see the bug with RC1?Edited 2006-09-03 21:22Sun, 03 Sep 2006 21:19:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (fourdan)CommentsRE: bleeding edge desktop, very coolhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158617
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158617What's that launcher-panel you've got in the bottom there? Looks nice..Sun, 03 Sep 2006 21:19:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Ringheims Auto)CommentsRE[2]: bleeding edge desktop, very coolhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158631
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158631The launcher panel is part of Adesklets destop widgets. It is called YAB (yet another bar).

Adesklets web site: http://adesklets.sourceforge.net/Sun, 03 Sep 2006 21:33:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (buff)CommentsThunar featureshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158635
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158635Except SMB support there is one feature, that I'd like to see in Thunar, and that is tabs. I find them very handy, fortunately not a must-have. But maybe, someday... Sun, 03 Sep 2006 21:47:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (spectator)CommentsRE: Thunar featureshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158640
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158640I agree with you that tabs would be a nice feature for Thunar. I like the way Thunar is nice and simple and fast right now. It would be great to be able to switch tabs without opening several thunar windows.Sun, 03 Sep 2006 21:54:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (buff)CommentsRE[2]: Great, but...http://www.osnews.com/thread?158641
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158641Just finished installing rc1 and so far I've not been able to duplicate it. So consider me a happy XFCE'r. It just didn't get listed in the CHANGELOG for whatever reason.Sun, 03 Sep 2006 21:54:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (kernelpanicked)Comments...http://www.osnews.com/thread?158656
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158656I think is time to put the mouse logo in XFCE topics.Sun, 03 Sep 2006 22:45:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Mitarai)CommentsWindow/Panelhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158659
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158659Does the bottom panel still stay on top of all open windows?Sun, 03 Sep 2006 22:52:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (zizban)CommentsRE[2]: Thunarhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158662
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158662If you think file associations are nifty, you'll wet your pants over Konqueror or Nautilus!

YESSS! Lack of borderless maximize was one of the few issues I had left with Xfce Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:18:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (MechR)CommentsRE: Thunar featureshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158691
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158691Yes they are handy. And lack of tabs was one of the main reasons I've switched from Xubuntu to Kubuntu. And I've missed Konqueror badly Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:37:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Punktyras)CommentsRE: Window/Panelhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158712
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158712Does the bottom panel still stay on top of all open windows?

This is an important question. I used to be a happy Xfce 3.x user when they went to 4 this new limited behaviour of the panel was the main reason I went back to Gnome.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 03:59:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (chemical_scum)CommentsInternationalizationhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158728
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158728The only thing that prevents me from using XFCE is internationalization support. I couldn't find a way to configure any languages but English and ability to switch between them easyly.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 06:34:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (pashar)CommentsA very good window manager/Desktophttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158729
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158729I really like the way in which Xfce has been progressing. It is both lightweight as well as have most of the features found in its heavy weight counterparts Gnome and Kde.

I have been using this window manager for quite some time now. Some things which the xfce team could improve on are:

* The position of the windows of applications should be made persistent across reboots. (As of Xfce4.0 - the one which I use - it is not).

* Care should be taken to maintain the lightweightedness of the window manager even while including more features - an obvious factor to switch from gnome and kde.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 06:36:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (jbalmer)CommentsRE[2]: Nicehttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158737
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158737I've been running Thunar beta2 for quite some time myself. It only depends on exo + libxfce4util, which is really sweet. So far it hasn't managed to break my habit of entering the console for most file operations, but neither did rox before it. Perhaps the full xfce interface will have more luck in this regard. I know I will slim it down to just xfwm + panel + thunar, and probably replace xfwm with openbox again eventually, so we'll see Mon, 04 Sep 2006 07:15:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (bogomipz)CommentsRE: Internationalizationhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158745
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158745check your locale settingMon, 04 Sep 2006 08:05:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (GhePeU)CommentsPanel questions http://www.osnews.com/thread?158748
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158748Is adding a launcher to the panel as inconvenient and clickety-clicky as it was in the early alphas and betas? How many clicks does it take? Can you drag-n-drop launchers on(to) the panel now?

I'm unlikely to switch from Gnome, but I'm curious anyway, since there were times I was very fond of Xfce...Mon, 04 Sep 2006 08:30:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Temcat)CommentsSearch?http://www.osnews.com/thread?158751
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158751Is it possible to search from the GUI now?
Is it possible to rightclick on the desktop to create a new folder now?Mon, 04 Sep 2006 09:25:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (mr_crow)CommentsRE: Panel questions http://www.osnews.com/thread?158759
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158759Yeah, it is still a lot of clicks to add a launcher, but I think it's improved some since early betas. At least since pre-beta svn builds.

right click > add new item
double click launcher, it automatically opens a properties window and leaves the applet menu open for more additions
enter your properties, alt-c to accept and close

It's really not too bad for an advanced user, but it's the kind of thing that will confuse Windows converts.

You can and can't drag and drop icons. You can not drag files to the panel to create a launcher, and I wouldn't really see the point of that. /usr/bin would be hell to navigate in a file manager. You can't just click, drag, and drop a launcher within the panel, which is good since that leads to accidental movement of launchers in other panels out there. Instead you right click, choose move, drag, and drop. It's nearly as easy and less accident prone.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 10:20:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Ethyriel)CommentsRE: Search?http://www.osnews.com/thread?158764
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158764Is it possible to search from the GUI now?
There's a web search panel applet, but no sort of desktop search.

Is it possible to right click on the desktop to create a new folder now?
No, that really doesn't fit into the Xfce dynamic. Desktops aren't file managers, I don't understand why anyone wants icons there at all.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 10:26:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Ethyriel)CommentsRE[2]: uglyhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158777
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158777Not only that, but even when I was running it on my PC with a gig of memory; I don't like the idea of the desktop being the dominant fixture; I run applications on my computer, thats what should be dominating the lime light, not mindless bling from the desktop.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 11:17:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (kaiwai)CommentsRE: Nicehttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158780
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158780Then you're not a true Openbox user. ;-) Seriously, I'm using XFCE currently but as soon as I'm able to switch I'm going back to Openbox.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 11:42:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (1c3d0g)CommentsRE[2]: Search?http://www.osnews.com/thread?158781
http://www.osnews.com/thread?1587812)
Did you actually use 4.4RC1? or even beta2?

It IS possible to create new folders on desktop but you have to right click on an existing icon there, clicking anywhere on desktop doesn't work.

heres a screenshot:

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/3096/xfce44rc1rh8.png Edited 2006-09-04 11:55Mon, 04 Sep 2006 11:45:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (siimo)CommentsRE[2]: Panel questions http://www.osnews.com/thread?158789
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158789Well, I certainly didn't mean navigating /usr/bin :-) I just remember there was something like application chooser in XFCE, so I was wondering if you can drag-n-drop an app from it directly to the panel, without opening add launcher dialog. This is IMO a very logical thing to do - though even more logical would be drag-n-dropping from the menu to the panel.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 12:33:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Temcat)CommentsRE[2]: Search?http://www.osnews.com/thread?158803
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158803I like to use the search GUI that comes with XFCE4. In a shell type xfglob4. Keep in mind you could also use Beagle on XFCE4 if you installed it. On Fedora you just type "yum install beagle". I rarely use it since I have most of my files categorized into directories.

I think it is kind of funny reading some of these comments. XFCE4 doesn't have this and that feature... If you are using linux you can combine desktop features. This is not Windows. So, if you want to use gnome's panel then open a shell and type "gnome-panel". Kill the XFCE4 panel. Run Konqueror if you must have a file manager with Tabs. I tend not to use the Gnome or KDE applications since they consume a lot of memory. That is the beauty with Linux - mix and match until your OS fits your hand like a glove. You just need to know how to use the shell and be familiar with the linux applications available.Edited 2006-09-04 13:12Mon, 04 Sep 2006 13:10:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (buff)CommentsRE: Internationalizationhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158828
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158828There is a xfce4-xkb-plugin but it is not part of the official distribution AFAIK. I'm not sure if it is as usable as the GNOME xkb applet too (things like per window or per application settings). I keep trying XFCE and I'm impressed with their improvements. It's still "not there" in my opinion but it is very, very close. Keep up the good work!Mon, 04 Sep 2006 15:03:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (velko)CommentsRE[2]: Thunar featureshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158836
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158836The lack of tabs in thunar is considered by [at least some of] the devels to be a usability feature, not a lack of a feature. See http://foo-projects.org/pipermail/thunar-dev/2006-August/003386.htm...

That's ridiculous. And anyway, WHO CARES? This is exactly the childlike behavior that makes a lot o the open source movement look dumb. Why can't people use more than one thing? Must we all be fanatical about what we use on our COMPUTERS???Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:04:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Adam S)CommentsRE: Thunar featureshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?158861
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158861just for your information, perhaps you might try the pcman file manager (look for it in gnome files, but I think it is something like http://pcmanfm.sf.net). It has a Thunar-like interface, with Tabs. Last time I checked it missed some Thunar's features, though.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:37:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (AlexandreAM)CommentsRE[3]: Search?http://www.osnews.com/thread?158903
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158903Yeah, but... I didn't write that I "must have a file manager with Tabs". I only wrote, that this is one feature I'd like to see in Thunar. This is freedom. Free to use Thunar, free to say I'd like Thunar with tabs.

As for pcman, been there, for me it's UI is far too messy.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 19:10:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (spectator)CommentsRE[3]: Search?http://www.osnews.com/thread?158931
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158931I haven't used the packaged releases, but I've been using svn builds for, oh, maybe the last 18 months.

Sorry I missed that, I usually run a clean desktop and just turned on file/launcher icons and disabled the program menu on right click to test. I didn't try clicking an existing icon, though I guess that's consistent with the panel behavior.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 19:59:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Ethyriel)CommentsRE[3]: Search?http://www.osnews.com/thread?158932
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158932Something I completely forgot about in my first post, but you reminded me of, is that Xfce actually has a panel applet (not in the default distro I don't think) that acts as a container for gnome panel applets. I'm not sure if it works perfectly with everything, but I'd guess at least one of the Gnome search applets will work.Mon, 04 Sep 2006 20:02:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Ethyriel)CommentsRE[4]: Search?http://www.osnews.com/thread?158957
http://www.osnews.com/thread?158957It's called xfapplet and allows you to use gnome panel applets in xfce (e.g. tomboy, deskbar-applet).Mon, 04 Sep 2006 21:40:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (spectator)Comments